We are used to seeing Postman Pat deliver parcels in his small van but he also has a bigger van which his SDS (Special Delivery Service) van.

~Push Along Van~

This van is part of the SDS collection of vehicles and can be bought alone or as part of a set. There are 2 vans available - one takes 3 x AAA batteries and plays the theme tunes and the other is simply a push along van. We have the latter.

This push along van is approx 15 x 9 x 6cm. It is suitable for children over the age of 3. The van is of course red and has free moving wheels. It features a two side opening doors and 2 back opening doors on the main body of the van. There is a seating area at the front for 2 small characters and the doors can open and close. The van is supplied with 2 replica parcels.

~Price~

This van is available from the likes of Tesco and Amazon for just under £10.00.

~Our Thoughts~

Our son is Postman Pat crazy as his Daddy is a postman. He has some of the smaller figures and DVDs but whilst in Tesco a few months ago, his Daddy treated him to a new toy and this was the toy he picked. I know his Uncle is buying him the helicopter and other bits to accompany this set for Christmas. The toy came in one of those open front, fiddly boxes!

~Delivering Boos Parcels!~

The van is fairly sturdy and made from red plastic. It is weighty though my son (whos is 3 and a half) has no issues moving this van around. It would hurt if dropped on some toes though so be careful! We have a small Postman Pat character from a different set and he slots into the drivers seat fairly easily. The doors at the front of the van detatch very easily from the van and my son cannot put these back on themselves. He was upset the first time this happened as he thought he had broken it but super Mummy saved the day and he could get on with delivering his parcels!

The van can be moved around freely and has no sharp edges. It feels very smooth and the wheels move well allowing my son to zoom the van around our livingroom or his bedroom floor. The small parcels look very realistic as if wrapped in brown paper and had the perfect size for my toddler to hold and play about with but are very easily misplaced.. My son appreciates that there is 3 doors that can be opened so he can fill up the back of the van with his parcels and anything else he can fit in!

The van rattles with the parcels inside as there is plenty of space left as the van is quite spacious inside. He often fills it up with small characters he has and has been known to hide his sweets and train tickets in there to make sure his cousin doesn't get his hands on them! He uses his van for roleplay with characters and it is interesting to see him reinacting the scenes from his Postman Pat dvds. He has some imagination and although rather basic, the van fufills his need to make up little scenarios and stories. Mummy gets in on the action too as I need to deliver Boos nightly custard cream in the back of the van before bed!

The van has been crashed into doors, table legs and run up walls and hasn't suffered any bashes. The colouring is intact and it looks as good as the day we bought it despite being played with daily.

~Conclusion~

I am a little annoyed as to why the ones in Tesco store have no sound but I cannot fault this van otherwise (well except for the dodgy doors!). £10 is expensive but you pay for the character relation. I do think it would be better value for money if they included some characters alongside the parcels.

Thanks for reading x

*Update - after my son received the small version of this (part of a set that can be collected) it came to my attention that it is the small version that has noise capabilities - this one is just for play - both are the same price but different sizes). The small van plays various tunes from the show.